The present invention relates generally to equipment and methods useful in food processing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system, method, and apparatus for cleaning injector needles used for injecting substances, such as flavorings, tenderizers, preservatives or the like, into food products.
During food product processing, frequently fluid substances, such as flavorings, tenderizers, preservatives or the like, are injected into the food product. Such fluid substances are typically referred to in the art of food processing as “brine” or “pickle” and will be referred to herein as “fluid substances.” Food products, such as vegetables, fruits, seafood, or meats, such as poultry, beef, pork, lamb or other meat products, for example, are frequently subjected to such processing prior to packaging for commercial sale. The process for injecting such fluid substances into the food product, typically entails using at least one hollow needle coupled to a source of the fluid substance and communicating the fluid substance from the source into and through the at least one hollow needle, which has penetrated the food product, and into the food product. The fluid substance may be a liquid, a slurry, a solution or a suspension of particulates, such as spices or flavoring agents, as is known in the art.
Food injector needles are typically tubular in shape and taper to a point at an injection end configured to penetrate into the food product. The needles generally comprise at least one fluid inflow port is disposed at a top portion or upper region of the needle, while at least one fluid outflow port is disposed at the injection end of the needle. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,112, some needles have the fluid inflow port disposed through a sidewall of the needle at the upper region of the needle and additionally have the fluid outflow port disposed through a sidewall of the needle at a lateral lower region of the needle in proximity to the tapered point. A side outflow port allows for the best infiltration of the food product without creating fluid deposits in the product and resists being obstructed by the food product as the injector needle is inserted and withdrawn from the food product or by particulate matter in the fluid substance being injected.
Consumer kitchen flavor injection devices are typically single injection needles coupled to a liquid reservoir and a plunger or squeeze bulb such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,660. In commercial food processing production lines, injector systems, like the ones taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,455,928, 5,881,640, and 4,903,590 typically combine a plurality of injector needles, configured in an array, into an automated machine configured to inject the fluid substance into the food product simultaneously at multiple entry points in the food product. In some of these instances, the commercial injector systems include a conveyer belt or are part of a larger food processing line that moves the food product into position aligned with the hollow needle array, injects the food product with the fluid substance and, after injection, then conveys the food product further down the processing line for further processing.
Over time during use, the injection needles require clearing, such as clearing obstructions in the fluid flow path within the needle and need to be cleaned and/or sanitized. Mechanically, the needles may become obstructed with varying amounts of food product, particulates from the injected fluid substance or liquid residue. Similarly, because the injector needles are employed in raw meat processing, bacteria or other biological or chemical contaminants, will be transferred to the injector needles requiring the injector needles be sanitized. Further, the injector needs will need to be cleaned and/or sanitized when the food processing line changes to a different food being processed, for example, poultry to beef, or when the food processing line changes the fluid substance being injected.
Currently, it is known to remove the injector needles, either individually or as a connected array, from the injector machine, and manually wash the needles with a disinfecting or other cleaning solution, such as citric acid. Given that the bore diameters of injector needles are typically between about 1.6 to about 2.9 mm and bore lengths range from about 200 mm to about 365 mm, depending upon needle manufacturer, current methods of rapidly and effectively cleaning have been found to be ineffective and inefficient. For example, Inwestpol (Gdansk, Poland) makes an ultrasonic injector needle cleaner that requires individual needles be placed in a tray and the tray subjected to ultrasonic cleaning. (See, e.g., http://inwestpol.com/en/injectors/ultradzwiekowe-urzadzenie-do-czyszczenia-igiel-mt#3-gallery). Also, Metalquimia (Girona, Spain) makes an injector needle cleaning device (NEEDLECLEAN) in which individual needs or needle arrays are loaded into a machine having a reservoir or cleaning/disinfecting solution and over a period of 3.5 to 6 hours, the needles are cleaned. Promarksvac Corporation (Ontario, Canada) manufactures a line of fluid substance injectors that employ an air cleaning fixture (See, e.g., https://promarksvac.com/brine-injectors.html).
None of the conventional food injector systems or injector needle cleaning systems employ high-pressure, rapid cleaning and disinfecting capability that is capable of cleaning, disinfecting and/or clearing single injector needles, injector needle arrays either in-line with the fluid substance injector system or when the injector needles are removed from the fluid substance injector system. The present disclosure provides an apparatus and method addressing some of the shortcomings for cleaning, clearing and disinfecting injection needles that are found in the conventional food injector art.